roses are red
by ephermals
Summary: It may have started out as a fake relationship, but now it's turned into something real. —Claire/Josh. : Happy birthday, Juana!


**prompts: **candy, roses, poetry, french

**a/n: **So, happy birthday, Jo. Juana. Whatever. I really hope you have a happy birthday. You were one of my first fanfiction friends I made even before the forum was made. We have so many things in common. Keep being ah-mazingly weird. :)

**dedication: **Juana (Glittering Moonlight)

**disclaimer: **I don't own The Clique, and I certainly don't own Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

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**roses are red  
**claire/josh

**.**

It starts with roses.

The doorbell rings, and Claire Lyons wonders exactly who it could be. Usually, her only visitor is Massie Block, and she never rings the doorbell, she just barges in. She hesitantly opens the door, and finds Josh Hotz standing there, holding a bouquet of silky red roses. She wants to tell him to go away, because her life is ruined right now; she was expelled from OCD, Cam hates her, and nothing seemed to be going right. Claire grits her teeth, but still manages to say, "Hello, Josh," in a semi-nice way.

"Special delivery for Claire Lyons," he says, grinning. He hands her the roses, and she stares at them, unable to speak. "Go on, take it. And read the card," he urges. She accepts the roses, and peeks at the card.

_Roses are red, _

_Violets are blue,_

_I've never met _

_Someone like you. _

_Claire Stacey Lyons, will you please be my girlfriend? _

Claire laughs at the cheesy poem, but her heart melts at the last part; even though Josh Hotz was the one who wrote the poem, it's nice to know that someone would write poetry for her. "Are you serious, Josh? I'm in love with Cam. Sorry." She almost cries, remembering that horrible trip to Lake Placid. Alicia got her way, she kissed Cam, and tricked Cam into thinking that Claire was no-good. Now they were dating, and Claire was heartbroken.

"And I'm in love with Alicia," Josh admits, "but she's in love with Cam. I think that we should go out to make the two of them jealous, y'know? I also never really got over you. Claire, please, just give this a chance."

Claire sighs, running her fingers through her tangled white-blonde hair. "Okay, fine," she says, reluctantly. "I'll go out with you."

**.**

He takes her to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream –that's kind of their "thing" now, ice cream. Claire has a chocolate fudge brownie waffle cone, Josh has a mint chocolate chunk waffle cone, and they both have lots of candy toppings on top. They sneak glances at each other's faces every now and then, but are always afraid to make conversation. So they only eat silently, and the minutes and seconds seem to drag on forever and ever.

"Josh, this isn't working," Claire speaks up. "We can't go on not talking forever. No one's going to believe that we're actually in a relationship, if we continue like this." She wipes her mouth with her napkin, and gets up to throw her half- finished ice cream in the trash can; she has lost her appetite.

"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Josh says, frustrated. "Start a conversation." Claire cocks her head to one side, smiling; Josh sighs, giving in. "Okay, um, I like Ralph Lauren, the New York Yankees, gossip, and _you. _I don't like my sister. Don't tell anyway," he says, lowering his voice, "but I sometimes blackmail her into cleaning my room."

Claire laughs, and it rings throughout the room. "I have a younger brother, Todd –you may or may not know him, but anyway, he's really annoying and has this humongous crush on Massie. Ugh, I hate younger siblings."

"Yeah, tell me about it. They get everything they want because they're _younger, _and it's just so unfair." Josh gets up to throw his cone away as well, returning quickly.

"Mhmm, and because you're the older one, you always get blamed for every single thing, even if it wasn't your fault. Sometimes, I just wanna rip Todd's red hair out, and maybe stuff his obnoxious little face in the trash can. Oh, and then strangle him until he begs for forgiveness." Claire almost laughs; she has no idea where this is coming from inside of her. She also can't believe that she and Josh are bonding over the hatred for younger siblings. _That's love, my darling, _she can almost hear Massie saying. _  
_

They exchange comments about their annoying younger siblings for a while, failing to notice the two people standing at the door. One was a raven-haired Spanish beauty, the other was a boy with one green eye and one blue eye. They both had somewhat unhappy expressions on their faces, and were glaring at the happy couple.

Claire and Josh don't seem to even care about Alicia and Cam anymore, even though the two of them were the reason Claire and Josh got together in the first place.

**.**

"May I present to you . . . the Briarwood-Octavian Country Day High School graduating class of 2013!" Graduation caps are thrown into the air, students are hugging, saying final goodbyes to their best friends, but two of them stand to the sidelines; Josh has his arm around Claire, and she's leaning her head on his shoulder. They cling to each other for dear life, not wanting this moment to ever end, because when it does, they are going to have to go their separate ways for college.

Over the years, Claire and Josh fell in love with each other. They went to all the school dances together, and were even crowned Prom King and Prom Queen. Alicia and Cam became a thing of the past, their friendships with the two of them had been long since broken. Their friends were supportive of their relationship, and they even won the title of _cutest couple _in the school yearbook. "Joshie?" Claire finally says, after minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" Josh answers, tangling his fingers in her hair.

"Promise me you'll find me after four years. Promise me you will be right here, waiting for me." Claire's eyes are sparkling with tears; she doesn't want to ever leave him, but it's something that must be done. "Promise me you'll save your summers just for me, Josh. _Promise me." _

Josh resists the urge to cry himself, because _men do not cry, _and at eighteen years of age, he was officially a man now. "I promise," he swears. "Cross my heart and hope to die. He is suddenly reminded of that quote, _If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they're yours; if they don't, they never were. _He and Claire would find each other again. He knew they would.

It may have started out as a fake relationship, but now it's turned into something real.

**.**

Four years have passed, and Claire is home. Her family is still living in the Blocks' guesthouse, but she doesn't care, because it's the only place she calls _home. _It's the place where, ten years ago, Josh Hotz asked her out. Claire drags all her suitcases in, and immediately runs to her bedroom, collapsing on the soft mattress. She is just about to close her eyelids and fall asleep when the ring of the doorbell jolts her awake.

She runs to answer the door frantically, cursing herself for wearing her dirty Juicy sweats that haven't been washed in over two weeks. Claire swings the door open, and finds Josh, holding a bouquet of roses. She feels a sense of déjà vu as he hands her the roses. "Special delivery for Claire Lyons."

_Roses are red, _

_Violets are blue, _

_The only person _

_I love is you. _

_Claire Stacey Lyons, will you marry me?_

Claire looks up, and sees that Josh has gotten down on one knee. "Claire Stacey Lyons, will you marry me?" he says, as if the note wasn't enough. He pulls out a ring, it's a diamond ring, her favorite kind. "Je t'aime," he adds, which Claire knows means I love you in French, the romance language.

Tears of joy are streaming down Claire's face as she nods rapidly; she's speechless. It feels strangely nostalgic, just like that day back in seventh grade when he asked her out; that was probably Josh's intention, anyway. He slides the ring onto her finger, and it fits perfectly. She throws her arms around him, but this time, there's a twist, something that's different from seventh grade —she kisses him passionately, and he kisses her back.

And it ends with roses.

**.**

_fin. _

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**This is not my best work. It's short, choppy, and really crappy. *covers face with hands* Leave a review anyway, please? :)**

**xo rach**


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